In the years prior to my writing about cannabis, I worked in, and continue to work in, the music industry. My friends, and those friends who have become my second family, are artists, record labels, and venue owners. “Supporting craft cannabis” has always been one of the tentpole values of my work in cannabis, and “supporting craft music” for my music work.
Roll one up then roll up on this ever expanding curated collection of musical streaming content. Unless otherwise noted, all content is free to access. Tips to the artists are always most welcome, many of which are used to assist laid off crew members, or support a charity selected by the artist.
The Roots have always demonstrated a deep bench of diverse talent in their albums, live performances and decade plus as house band for The Tonight Show. It’s rightfully gained them status as one of the greatest hip hop bands of all time, but the content individual members have independently produced during the pandemic has fascinating.
I will be looking closer at the full line up of programming next week, but for now, it’s highly suggested by someone high that you subscribe to their YouTube channel via the link above.
The modern standard bearers for thoughtful, skilled and roof ripping Southern Rock had a brilliant album, “The Unraveling” released earlier this year to widespread critical acclaim. Plans for the tours supporting it were waylaid by the pandemic, but fear not!
They’ve written and recorded a new song, “Quarantine Together”, from their various homes around the country which drops today with a video as well. You can even purchase a limited edition t shirt with the song title on the front, and the concise and sage advice on the back “Six Feet Away Motherfucker”. The single is a “pay what you will” offering.
To immerse yourself in the full on rawk show experience, the band has also released three separate full length shows from their long running, multi-night “Homecoming” showcase in Athens, GA at the famed 40 Watt Club. $10 gets you a multi hour show filled with songs from the album as well as digging deep into their extensive catalog. The shows were recorded way back in February 2020 aka 200 light years ago from now.
The Old 97s co-founder has been doing a series of great quarantine shows from his home in New York, providing viewers with scheduled performances of specific albums, deep cuts and b sides, or a set list curated by a notable fellow musician, actor or author. Miller’s naturally engaging and dynamic personality shines through the sets, with his witty asides, wry observations, and authentic appreciation for the material.
Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell
Amanda Shires played The Aladdin Theater with her band on March 10th, 2020. She exited the stage to a string of cancellations, and 36 hours later was on her way home to Nashville and husband Jason Isbell and young daughter. Both her BFF and her husband, who serves as Amanda’s guitar player and were both on the bus, decided it would be easier to quarantine with Amanda and her family.
On March 20th, the quartet began the “I-so-lounging” series, which quickly found an wide audience with fans and perhaps more so people who found multiple threads of relatable real talk with the free ranging discussions the group had between songs.
Those songs which include recordings by Shires, Isbell, and a glorious collection of covers. After a remarkable 30 day run, the show is on hiatus, but the shows are achieved on Amanda Shire’s YouTube page in the link.
Nicole Atkins may not be on your radar, but should be.
I first got hip to her work through her arresting backing vocals on the title track of J.D. McPherson’s stellar last album “Undivided Heart And Soul” .
Her own albums are super tight and tuneful, filled with sharp songwriting and her remarkable, soaring vocals. Her new one, “Italian Ice”, will drop next month.
It was recorded at the sacred ground which is the legendary Muscle Shoals FAME studios, with a band assembled of standout session men such as David Hood, Spooner Oldham, Binky Griptite of The Dap Kings, Jim Sclavunos and Dave Sherman of The Bad Seeds, and drummer McKenzie Smith of St. Vincent and Midlake, with a handful of other notables joining her on vocals.
With her touring plans waylaid by the pandemic, Atkins has starting a new weekly live streaming show “Alone We’re All Together”.
It promises weekly special guests from around the globe, which this week include in Atkin’s own words “Instrument Inventor, beguiling songwriter and performance artist @Thomas_truax, one of my favorite Nashville singers, writer and cult hero Aaron Lee Tasjan and Shreveport, Louisiana’s Jazzmaster shreddin’ soul sister #1 from the Seratones, @a.j.haynes”.
Shows are at 6p.m. CST sharp, watchable on numerous platforms through this link: linker.ee/nocoleatkins .
This Seattle based independent radio station has been a champion of great music for decades, and began capturing their guests in-studio and on location shows before content was “content”.
With many of their DJs currently broadcasting from home and in studio sessions cancelled, they’ve doubled down on their output of these professionally shot and recorded performances. They’ve been releasing a slew of diverse artists recordings, many in their state of the art performance space in their studios. Their YouTube channel recently surpassed 1 billion viewers, all done without an influencer in sight.
They also have a great streaming calendar section of their site, of which I will be gleefully stealing from in the coming weeks.